By begging?
They didn't sell it. Many countries pay other countries to hold their gold.
They now want it back and England wants to know why. They probably don't have it.
IIRC, it was collateral for a loan. I don’t know if the loan was paid off or not. Not the first country that has had to wait for it’s gold.
Many Countries have been buying gold for their central banks. The older gold stores were not refined to current day standards, and has to be refined sufficiently to meet today’s standards.
Various countries are also moving their gold stores from NY. I guess they are anticipating that the Int’l Monetary System is going to need to be overhauled again.